Tag Archives: Best In Show

In order to achieve happiness, one must be a winner. One must achieve the goal that they set forth to complete. “Best In Show” shows just the opposite of this. It is a mockumentary that follows five dog owners as they venture to the Annual Mayflower Dog Show and hope to win the gold and title of best dog in show.

There is one scene, the scene that starts the movie off where the first dog-owning couple are in a therapist’s office discussing the trauma they feel they put forth on their dog. Their dog walked in on them during an intimate moment. The irony in this scene is the way they speak about their dog, as if it is human. I thought they were talking about their child, as did a majority of my classmates. This couple and the others followed love their dogs’ as if they were their own children. This is one aspect that I believe kept them all happy, regardless of the results of the competition: love.

During the actual dog show, there is much stress and tension. All the owners want to win, desperately, hopelessly. They are willing to do anything. It is in this moment where you as the audience feel tension as well, though the humor and charm of the film covers it up well. I felt like I wanted all of them to win, since we got to know each couple so well, but I knew it would end with only one winner. How would the others react? Would they go into a severe depression? Would they suddenly reject the pet they once loved so much? It seemed as though they all want to win so badly that it just couldn’t possibly end well for all of them. This is where I was oh so wrong.

The winning dog is selected: the big, loveable bloodhound, and his owner, with similar attributes, is elated. I expected tears, lots of tears from the others but I got just the opposite of that. They all congratulated one another and went their separate ways. The film goes on to show how their lives all continue. One couple starts their own magazine on lesbian dog owners. They couldn’t have looked happier. The couple that was seen in the therapist’s office gets a new dog, one that actually enjoys watching them in their times of intimacy. This yuppie, once tense as all hell pair now seem to be care-free and in jubilantly high spirits, which they were lacking before. The others also go on to do different things, just as rewarding to each of them. They all seem genuinely happy, regardless of whether they won the gold or not.